Tassaduq Hussain Jillani sworn in as new Chief Justice of Pakistan

ISLAMABAD : President Mamnoon Hussain Thursday administered oath of office to the new Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani. The impressive oath taking ceremony here at the President House was witnessed by Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, Speaker National Assembly Ayaz Sadiq, cabinet members, senior officers and diplomats besides the former Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. The President administered the oath to the new Chief Justice after the recitation from the Holy Quran at the event that was also attended by Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khurshid Shah,Chief Minister Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah and parliamentarians.

According to the profile available from the Supreme Court of Pakistan Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani was born on July, 6, 1949; did Masters in Political Science from Forman Christian College, Lahore, L.L.B. from the University of Punjab Lahore and a course in Constitutional Law from the University of London in the Institute of Advance Legal Studies.

He started practice at District Courts Multan in 1974; enrolled as an Advocate of the High Court in 1976; elected as General Secretary District Bar Association Multan in 1976; elected Member Punjab Bar Council in 1978; appointed as Assistant Advocate General Punjab in July, 1979; enrolled as an Advocate of the Supreme Court in 1983; promoted as Additional Advocate General Punjab in 1988; appointed as Advocate General Punjab in 1993.

He took oath as a Judge of Lahore High Court on August 7, 1994 and was elevated as Judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan on 31st July,2004 where he served till the imposition of the state of Emergency on the 3rd of November, 2007.

As he refused to take fresh oath, he was made dysfunctional as a Judge of the Supreme Court. After the restoration of democracy and elected Government in Pakistan, he joined as Judge of the Supreme Court in September, 2009 and appointed Chief Justice of Pakistan on December 12 2013.

Chief Justice Tassaduq has participated in a number of international meetings, conferences, seminars, colloquiums and dialogues. Naming a few amongst many are 3rd Malta Judicial Conference on Cross-Frontier Family Law Issue held from 24-26 March 2009 in St. Julian’s Malta; International Family Justice Judicial Conference for Common Law and Commonwealth Jurisdictions at Cumberland Lodge Windsor, England from 4th to 7th August; in 2009; the Conference on Religious and Cultural Freedom under a Bill of Rights (13-15 August, 2009) organized by the University of Adelaide, Canberra, Australia ; World Justice Forum-II from 11-14 November, 2009; in 2010, 10th Congress International Association of Supreme Administrative Jurisdictions held in Australia from 7th to 11th March, 2010 and the International Judicial Conference on Cross-Border Family Relocation held in Washington, D.C. from 23-25 March, 2010.

The Chief Justice was awarded “Key of the City of Detroit (Michigan)” by the Mayor at a function; on 12 October, 2007, conferred “Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters” at a special Convocation held in Southern Virginia University, Washington; he was conferred the Honorary Chair by the American Bar on its “The World Justice Project” – an Initiative to promote the rule of law the world over.

In July, 2008, he was invited by the American Bar Association to receive the “2008 Rule of Law Award” on behalf of those Judges of Pakistan who demonstrated courage in upholding the “Rule of Law” in the country.He is Co-chair of the Hague Conference Mediation Committee in Family International Law.